Victorian Period - A Time of Change "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their own peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their own peril."--by Oscar Wilde, Preface, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" The Victorian Period revolves around the political career of Queen Victoria. Of course, in the literature from this period, we see a duality, or double standard, between the concerns for the individual (the exploitation and corruption both at home and abroad) and national success--in what is often referred to as the Victorian Compromise. Against the backdrop of technological, political, and socioeconomic change, the Victorian Period was bound to be a volatile time, even without the added complications of the religious and institutional challenges brought by Charles Darwin and other thinkers, writers, and doers. Victorian Period: Early & Late The Period is often divided into two parts: the early Victorian Period (ending around 1870) and the late Victorian Period. More Info.
Primary History - Victorian Britain English literature: The Victorian Age The Reform Bill of 1832 gave the middle class the political power it needed to consolidate—and to hold—the economic position it had already achieved. Industry and commerce burgeoned. While the affluence of the middle class increased, the lower classes, thrown off their land and into the cities to form the great urban working class, lived ever more wretchedly. The Novel The Victorian era was the great age of the English novel—realistic, thickly plotted, crowded with characters, and long. Emily Brontë's (see Brontë, family) single novel, Wuthering Heights (1847), is a unique masterpiece propelled by a vision of elemental passions but controlled by an uncompromising artistic sense. Thomas Hardy's profoundly pessimistic novels are all set in the harsh, punishing midland county he called Wessex. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. More on English literature The Victorian Age from Infoplease: See more Encyclopedia articles on: English Literature, 20th cent. to the Present
Rare glimpse of Victorian London's working class captured by street photographer John Thomson / Courtesy Dominic Winter Auctioneers 'Crawlers', one of a series of pictures of 19th century London by pioneering street photographer John Thomson. Ben Cavanna / Courtesy Dominic Winter The volume of Street Life in London containing 36 of John Thomson's photographs that will be sold at auction on Thursday. By Yuka Tachibana, Producer, NBC News A book of photographs depicting the grueling poverty lived by many residents of Victorian London is due to be auctioned on Thursday. "In or around 1877, photography was mainly about beautiful landscapes or portraits of the wealthy, but these images [photographer John] Thomson deliberately set out to take were those of the Victorian underclass," John Trevers of auctioneers Dominic Winter told NBC News. "This was a pioneering work of social documentation," he added. Scottish photographer John Thomson, a pioneer of street photography, captured images of London's working class in the 1870s. Update, 12.40 p.m.
Victorian literature Herbert F. Tucker: A Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture Victorian literature is literature, mainly written in English, during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) (the Victorian era). It was preceded by Romanticism and followed by the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Robert Browning (1812–89) and Alfred Tennyson (1809–92) were Victorian England's most famous poets, though more recent taste has tended to prefer the poetry of Thomas Hardy, who, though he wrote poetry throughout his life, did not publish a collection until 1898, as well as that of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89), whose poetry was published posthumously in 1918. Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) is also considered an important literary figure of the period, especially his poems and critical writings. Prose fiction[edit] Charles Dickens is the most famous Victorian novelist. The Brontë sisters wrote fiction rather different from that common at the time. Poetry[edit] Drama[edit] Children's literature[edit] Notes[edit]
The Victorian Period The Victorian period formally begins in 1837 (the year Victoria became Queen) and ends in 1901 (the year of her death). As a matter of expediency, these dates are sometimes modified slightly. 1830 is usually considered the end of the Romantic period in Britain, and thus makes a convenient starting date for Victorianism. Similarly, since Queen Victoria’s death occurred so soon in the beginning of a new century, the end of the previous century provides a useful closing date for the period. The common perception of the period is the Victorians are “prudish, hypocritical, stuffy, [and] narrow-minded” (Murfin 496). This perception is (as most periodic generalizations are) not universally accurate, and it is thus a grievous error to jump to the conclusion that a writer or artist fits that description merely because he or she wrote during the mid to late 19th century. Another important aspect of this period is the large-scale expansion of British imperial power.
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